@JohnDrea No, Chromium is the base for Chrome, nothing new except Chromium doesn't have any tracking shit and metrics data collection that comes with Chrome. If you want to learn more read - https://chromium.woolyss.com/#features

Ofcourse, no browser is made specifically for YOU, the user. Also that reddit thread is filled with lots of tin foiled hat theories which I won't bother myself to engage further. You will still be using some Google services which can be disabled like you do in Chrome, but there's no automated data collection and transfer happening and everything is manual, so you have lot more control comparatively.